Friday, July 24, 2015

Christmas TV Party 2015: Stephen J. Lind, Ph.D.

1) What Christmas program/movie have you seen more times than any other?

A Charlie Brown Christmas,
by a Schulzian mile. It is easily my favorite TV-anything to watch,
and I do so frequently. It was also one of the most fun chapters to write in my upcoming book about
Peanuts - "A Charlie Brown Religion: Exploring the Spiritual Life and
Work of Charles M. Schulz" ---- Available now for pre-order! ;)

2) What is your favorite musicalChristmas TV special, variety performance, or holiday song in a movie?Where Are You Christmas is at least one of
my favorite holiday songs in a movie. I'll admit that I didn't warm up
to the Grinch's live-action debut as much as I wanted to, but that
song, particularly Faith Hill's version from the soundtrack, is just so
moving, and memorable, and meaningful. It's the type of song that gets
stuck in your head, and it's one of the few that I rather enjoy when it
does.

My first instinct is to say The Muppet Christmas Carol, but I quite thoroughly enjoy Mickey's Christmas Carol as
well. Of course Disney has a deep and archetypal bench, but the cast
of characters fits so authentically well into the story that you almost
wouldn't know that it was an adaptation.

4) What do you think is the worst Christmas program/movie--or your least favorite, the most disappointing or most overrated?

Holster your Red Ryders... but A Christmas Story. I never really connected with the characters, the vibe, or the tempo.

5) If you were asked to give advice to a TV network executive in charge of holiday programming, what would you suggest?

The
season has inherent religious roots. And most viewers are okay with
that. Not everyone shares the view that exploring Christ's birth is
important, but a LOT of viewers do. Statistically, a crazy lot. Yet a
surprisingly small statistical number of holiday programs have
meaningful (let alone creative, or fun, or original, or
thought-provoking) and sustained religious content. It's not that execs
don't know about viewers' spiritual interests... some just seem to
forget more often than not.

10 comments:

Some one else shares my neutral feeling towards A Christmas Story...I just don't get it! I think it's one of those things that if you haven't seen a million times when you were little, you're just not going to get it now.

Thanks! I really enjoy thinking about (and watching) Christmas programs this time of year... And of course I am very excited about the book! I am hoping to do some book signings here and there this Christmas season too :)